poem “One hundred-fifty years. What did we learn.&38221;, a poem written on the 150-year (1869) birthday of Mahatma Gandhi, about the changes he caused in his nation and around the world, and how others now seem to jump on his bandwagon to try to make a difference, not realizing that walking in protest once is not enough to change the world, By Chicago Poet Janet Kuypers

[the Writing of Kuypers] [JanetKuypers.com] [Bio] [Poems] [Prose]

See YouTube video of Janet Kuypers reading her poems “Just Made the Choice” and “One hundred-fifty years. What did we learn.” from the Janet Kuypers poetry book “Every Event of the Year (Volume Two: July-December)” live 9/24/20 during the Virtual Austin Poetry Society New World Poetry open mic (Panasonic Lumix 2500 camera; on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, and Tumblr).

See a Facebook live video stream of Janet Kuypers reading her poems “Just Made the Choice” and “One hundred-fifty years. What did we learn.” from the Janet Kuypers poetry book “Every Event of the Year (Volume Two: July-December)” live 9/24/20 during the Virtual Austin Poetry Society New World Poetry open mic (Samsung S9 camera).

See a YouTube video of Janet Kuypers reading her poem “Vampires and Blood-Sucking Mosquitos Alike” from the cc&d 10/20 v302 book “Wildflowers” and her poems “Noble Cause” and “One hundred-fifty years. What did we learn.” from the Down in the Dirt 10/20 v176 book “The End of the World” live 10/7/20 during the prepandemic times for “Comunity Poetry” (from a Panasonic Lumix 2500 camera; posted on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram, and Tumblr).

See a Facebook live video stream of Janet Kuypers reading her poem “Vampires and Blood-Sucking Mosquitos Alike” from the cc&d 10/20 v302 book “Wildflowers” and her poems “Noble Cause” and “One hundred-fifty years. What did we learn.” from the Down in the Dirt 10/20 v176 book “The End of the World” live 10/7/20 during the prepandemic times for “Comunity Poetry” (streamed w/ a Samsung S9 camera).

See YouTube video of Janet Kuypers reading her poems “Valkyrie attempts”, “Kill with Impunity”, “No Bother”, “Noble Cause”, and “One hundred-fifty years. What did we learn.” from the v176 book “The End of the World” installment of the Down in the Dirt issue collection book “Late Frost” 1/6/21, during the usual time for Austin’s “Community Poetry” open mic (this video was filmed from a Panasonic Lumix 2500 camera, and posted on Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Pinterest, Instagram, and Tumblr). #janetkuypers #janetkuyperspoetry #janetkuypersbookreading

See a Facebook live video stream of Janet Kuypers reading her poems “Valkyrie attempts”, “Kill with Impunity”, “No Bother”, “Noble Cause”, and “One hundred-fifty years. What did we learn.” from the v176 book “The End of the World” installment of the Down in the Dirt issue collection book “Late Frost” 1/6/21, during the usual time for Austin’s “Community Poetry” open mic (this video was filmed and streamed from a Samsung S9 camera). #janetkuypers #janetkuyperspoetry #janetkuypersbookreading

One hundred-fifty years.
What did we learn.
Janet Kuypers
10/2/19, the 150-year (1869)
birthday of Mahatma Gandhi
Walking through New Delhi,
I photographed the statue
of Mahatma Gandhi leading
the Salt March to the ocean
to get salt from there for free
after Britain said they had
to buy their heavily taxed salt instead.
Why pay for something
under British tyranny, when
we could just walk the 390-
kilometres to the ocean
to get the salt ourselves.
80 started the Dandi March
that grew to over 50,000,
because so many protested
the British-imposed salt tax.
That was the initiation
of the civil disobedience
movement that led
to Britain leaving India.
I left New Delhi, paid my way
in Visakhapatnam with money
emblazoned with that picture
of Mahatma Gandhi’s walk,
and it make me think
of the historic protests
and acts of civil disobedience
that changed the world.
And then I think of the marches
that occur with amazing regularity
in the city I now reside,
and I forget what all of the protests
are even for anymore.
There seem to be just so many,
and from what I can tell
nothing comes from this kind
of civil disobedience any longer.
It seems that everyone
wants to jump on the
protest bandwagon,
and one protest after another
leads to people walking together,
feeling good about themselves,
and thinking they’ve made a difference —
and posting the Instagram pics,
of them making a “difference”
on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest,
and every other online medium to prove it —
when nothing has actually changed.
#
I know that leading
by example alone
is hardly the solution,
but the 21st century
walking in unison
may no longer accomplish
anything other than
stroking walker’s egos.
This may be the dilemma
of modern times,
when too many people
see a problem,
and do not know what to do
other than to walk.
What is the walk accomplishing
other than improving your health
and making you feel morally superior.
Because I’m positive
Mahatma Gandhi,
opting to weave
his own clothes
instead of buying clothes
to support a system
he didn’t believe in,
didn’t do it
so he could feel
all high and mighty.
People now take a break from their day
to participate in a march,
and then they go back
to their everyday lives.
Mahatma Gandhi changed his life,
the march was only a part of the story,
and as a result, he changed the world too.
Mahatma Gandhi didn’t jump on a bandwagon
to join others to protest for change.
He started that journey himself,
which,
he still does,
in those who start those journeys too,
to this day.

my hand to an anim of jkchair